Elliptical pant leg configuration

ABSTRACT

Pant leg construction where two panels of fabric, front and back panels, are joined along a vertical seam to form a pant leg and where the bottom of the pant leg are trimmed specifically to a particular elliptical shape configured in the pant leg lower perimeter and associated seam sewn at the bottom of the pant leg where the resulting shape is configured to touch the top of the shoe in front and extend lower in the back to conceal the heel with the appearance of an aesthetically pleasing gentle curve from lower back to upper front when worn reducing wear of the pant let between the ground and the heel of the foot or shoe.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates pant garments with elliptical shaped bottom full length pant legs, more specifically to an improved pant leg bottom construction particularly adapted for casual clothing, work trousers, medical scrubs, and emergency response person uniforms where wear between the ground and heel is unwanted, where maintaining sanitary conditions is important and where safety in stepping or climbing is desirable.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Pants have been worn by men and women as early as the 6th century BC, as recorded in Persian documents, and perhaps even earlier as found in Chinese graves dating to the 11th century BC. While improvements have been steadily made to the upper portion of the pants, and variations on width have been made to the legs, the bottom cut has remained constant—a flat cut, perpendicular to the pant leg. Some pants have incorporated foot coverings, like footed pajamas, and these date as far back as the 4th century in Germany. Waist closures have improved from ties, to buttons, to zippers, but the bottom of the pants have not been optimized for our anatomy or for the various activities we do while wearing pants.

The problem with horizontal cut pant legs has been the subject of numerous references of prior art as shown below. While the horizontal cut is easy to make, it is not optimized for real world applications. With a horizontal cut, the pant bottom hangs longer in the back while bunching up in the front and on the sides around the ankle. If the leg is bent, such as while sitting or crossing your legs, the front of the pant pulls up higher on the leg due to the distance around the front of the bent knee being longer than the distance around the back of the bent knee. This results in the “high water” look, exposing the wearer's socks, ankles and shins and looking ridiculous. If you wear your pants long enough to achieve a full break in the front, they will hang below the foot and drag in the back. This results in fraying and excessive wear of the pants in the back. And while fraying is sometimes considered trendy in casual jeans, it is unacceptable for formal attire, uniforms and most other circumstances.

More than 100 years ago Charles Luther Puffer introduced an invention U.S. Pat. No. 668,051 A related to trousers-protectors, and more particularly to that class of protectors which is detachahly secured to the lower edge of the leg and is adapted to be secured to the top of the shoe to prevent the leg from becoming soiled from rain and mud. Since then, many others have continued to explore alternatives to this common problem.

As recently as 2003, Douglas Bunjes in U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,862 presented the Pants Hem

Guard attached to the back portion of a shoe, with the clip insert remaining on the outside of the shoe just above the shoe heel. A pants hem is tucked behind the clip insert and keeps the hem above the shoe heel. He too addressed this problem.

In U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,862, Lloyd Ellington sought to improve the concept of using a clip by introducing a clip member that includes a central section and a first leg and a second leg each attached to and extending away from the central section so that the clip member is U-shaped.

Later in 2010, U.S. Pat. No. 7,743,431 presented how people have used rubber bands, strings and the like for years to hold their pant legs in place, whether to hold their pant legs off the ground, out of the way to allow riding a bike without a chain guard or to help keep the pant legs up to prevent the shoes or boots from staining the pant legs. This presents an unsightly appearance to the viewing public.

In U.S. Pat. No. 7,797,762, Howard Shapiro continued by presenting yet another alternative solution to the problem by showing an invention related generally to garments and outer wear wherein a loose fitting or extended length leg covering extends down to or below the upper ankle, and more particularly, to an accessory for preventing a pant leg from dragging on the ground.

And still others like US20100011626, US20110203035 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,054 continue to improve on the use of clips applied to the hem and shoe or garment fabric. Yet still to this day pants are manufactured with this inherent problem which the present embodiment overcomes as shown herein.

Although there are several apparatuses which may have various functions related to the Elliptical Pant Leg Configuration, none of these either separately or in combination with each other, teach or anticipate the current invention. Therefore, there remains an unmet need in the field of aesthetically pleasing pant leg bottom shaping related to pant manufacturing or alterations. The current invention will fulfill this unmet need.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The present embodiment presents a solution to the manufacture of the pant versus an after-thought of clipping, pinning, taping or otherwise temporarily affixing the back of the pant leg bottom to the pant leg, shoe or heel in order to adjust the height of the pant leg hem in relationship to the heel of the shoe and to the ground. To remedy the problems with horizontally cut pants bottoms, the pant leg fabric can be shaped to provide an aesthetically pleasing fall of the fabric along the leg, to the shoe and above the ground. The present embodiment demonstrates that the preferred shape is cut along an elliptical plane rather than a horizontal plane, creating an elliptical opening which is shorter in the back of the pant and longer in the front of the pant as compared to a horizontal cut. The elliptical cut also creates a larger opening than the horizontal cut.

The larger opening makes it easier to put on and take off the pants without having to increase the diameter of the pant leg. For example, a two inch elliptical drop would increase a boot cut opening from approximately 19.5 inches to 20.5 inches. This extra inch makes it much easier to slip over a foot and ankle.

The present embodiment also prevents heel drag which serves to provide for improved hygiene by avoiding contamination of the pant leg bottom from contaminants on the floor. This remedy may be particularly useful in clean environments, such as hospitals, if medical scrubs are manufactured or altered according to the solution provided for by the present embodiment.

Additionally, the present embodiment provides for improved safety for persons wearing pants in situations where full range motion of the extended leg to bended knee is required. The present embodiment demonstrates that with the elliptical cut applied to the bottom of the pant leg, the back of the pant leg is much less likely to catch on the heel of the shoe which may prevent or help avoid tripping or even worse, a fall. Since the elliptical shape removes excess fabric from the back panel of the pant leg that otherwise ordinarily extended below the heel, the pant leg moves freely up and down the leg as the leg is flexed while bending, stepping, climbing or squatting. This makes climbing ladders or stairs much safer for persons wearing uniforms such as firefighters, police, military personnel, and construction workers.

The present embodiment improves durability by avoiding fraying of the fabric of the bottom of the pant leg resulting from the back of the pant leg constantly dragging the ground. With the elliptical shape as presented in the present embodiment, wear of the fabric pant leg is avoided. Accordingly, consumers are likely more willing to apply additional decorative stitching or embellishments to the bottom of jeans or other types of pants which will remain aesthetically pleasing for the wearers of pants over longer periods of use. Additionally, elaborate decorative bottoms are more economically viable because they will not fray and wear out as quickly, a likely benefit for the consumer.

As demonstrated by the present embodiment, the elliptical cut of the bottom edge lies cleanly across the foot and around the ankle, better matching our physiology. Gentlemen can wear their pants at a length of the full break in the front without dragging the pant leg in the back. Alternatively, they can wear them at a partial break with a smaller drop, again with no drag in the back and with less bunching on the sides around the ankles. With a full break length in the front, a gentleman can cross his legs without exposing his shins to ridicule and shame. With the present embodiment applied, when one crosses his legs, the longer front will be more even with the shorter back rather than riding higher up the leg.

Additionally, as shown by when the present embodiment is applied to the pant leg, more flair at the bottom opening is created with the same diameter pant leg. This is due to the elliptical cut resulting in a pant leg opening that is larger than the same pant leg with a horizontal cut. By eliminating the excess fabric on the back and sides, the pant leg is also able to flair forward more freely. Fabric bunching is eliminated or reduced in the back and on the sides allowing the pant to flair forward more freely irrespective of the pant leg cut style such as straight leg, boot cut, or flared.

The shape of the curvature is determines by the amount of “drop”; which is the difference between the length at the front of the pant compared to the length at the back of the pant leg. Approximately two-thirds (⅔^(rds)) of the drop should occur on the front panel, with the remaining one-third (⅓^(rd)) of the drop on the back panel. This creates a curvature that best matches the foot and lay of the pants. The amount of drop varies by individual preferences. For instance, with a boot cut opening, for a full break, the length of the back of the pants should be reduced by approximately two (2) inches. For a partial break length, the back should be reduced by approximately one inch. For a very minor break, the back can be reduced by one-half (½) inch. For a Super Flair™, the back of the pant can be reduced by three (3) inches or more. This converts a boot cut width into a bell bottom-like flair without all the excess fabric in the back and on the sides.

The cut allows the pant to flair forward, depending on how much elliptical cut is done. With a one (1) inch difference in length between front and back there is only slight flaring. With a two (2) inch difference, there is almost another one (1) inch of flair. The pant lies more forward on the shoe or foot because the bulk is eliminated from the back and sides and the pant opening is enlarged due to the elliptical opening. The slightly larger opening also allows for easier dress and undress, even though the pant leg is the same circumference. This could be significant for seniors or anyone who is not as limber as they once were.

The intent is to allow a “break” in the front of the pant, without having bulk or break on the side and back or dragging the ground in the back. The result is a pant that lays cleanly on the sides and back, does not drag in the back, and can either rest just on the shoe, have a partial break, or have a full break. Different elliptical cuts accomplish each break.

There are several methods currently used today to use clips, adhesives or other attachments to temporarily adjust the height of the bottom hem of the pant leg. The present invention does not alter or disable this functionality.

To resolve the problems mentioned above, an object of the present invention is to provide a modification which can be applied during production or post production, without disabling the intended purpose of wearing pants.

Still other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described the embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of the best modes suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects all without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components, with reference to the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flat view of front and back traditional horizontal cut pant leg panels.

FIG. 2 is a vertical view of preferred embodiment elliptical pant leg.

FIG. 3 is a flat view of preferred embodiment front and back elliptical cut leg panels.

FIGS. 4 a, 4 b and 4 c are side views of multiple pant legs illustrating varying degrees of pant leg flair formed using the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side by side comparison view of traditional to the preferred embodiment worn over bent knee.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident; however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced with or without any combination of these specific details, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and the claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates two fabric segments, front panel 101 and back panel 102 which are used to assemble a pant leg 100, FIG. 2, with seams 103 by sewing the right edge of front panel 101 to the left edge of back panel 102; and, by sewing the left edge of front panel 101 to the right edge of back panel 102; and, by sewing hem line 104 along the bottom edge of the pant leg 100. The resulting hem line 104 is perpendicular to the seams 103 and is horizontal in relationship to the ground when the pant leg 100 is worn.

FIG. 2 illustrates the resulting elliptical shape 200 of the preferred embodiment when assembly of the pant leg 100 is complete. In FIG. 3, the elliptical shape 200, FIG. 2, of the pant leg 100 results from the removal of fabric area 303 from the lower edge 301 of the front panel 101 and the removal of fabric area 304 from the lower edge 302 of the back panel 102. The amount of fabric area 303 and 304 removed from the lower edges 301 and 302 is determinant as to the resulting elliptical shape 200 of pant leg 100 which is formed when front panel 101 and back panel 102 are joined along seams 103.

FIG. 4 illustrates the preferred present embodiment pant leg 100 as three (3) pant leg variations 410, 420 and 430. Each pant leg variation 410, 420 and 430 consist of a front panel 101, back panel 102, seams 103, and adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460.

In FIG. 4 a, pant leg variation 410 illustrates the preferred embodiment of pant leg 100 which has sufficient fabric area 303 and 304, FIG. 3, removed from front panel 101 and back panel 102 to form the adjusted hem line 440 of the pant leg variation 410 to rest in an aesthetically pleasing position when worn over the bent knee.

In FIG. 4 b, pant leg variation 420 illustrates the preferred embodiment of pant leg 100 which has sufficient fabric area 303 and 304, FIG. 3, removed from front panel 101 and back panel 102 to form the adjusted hem line 450, with a partial break 105 in the crease of the front pant leg 106 the pant leg 100, which rests in an aesthetically pleasing position when worn over a shoe with a partial flair 451 of the pant leg variation 420 opening.

In FIG. 4 c, pant leg variation 430 illustrates the preferred embodiment of pant leg 100 which has sufficient fabric area 303 and 304, FIG. 3, removed from front panel 101 and back panel 102 to form the adjusted hem line 460, with a full break 105 in the crease of the front pant leg 106, which rests in an aesthetically pleasing position when worn over a show with a full flair 461 of the pant leg variation 430 opening.

In FIG. 5, the preferred embodiment is show in comparison to a traditional pant leg.

The traditional cut pant leg 500 is consists of a front panel, back panel, seams and unadjusted hem line found in the preferred embodiment. This traditional cut pant leg 500 illustrates the essential problem found in the art as hem line 501. When the wearer of the pants bends the knee, the outer radius 503 elongates while the inside radius 502 shortens. The result is that fabric of the front panel 101 lifts the front of the hem line 104 off horizontal level to the ground. At the same time, the fabric of the back panel 102 becomes slack and drops the back of the hem line 104 below horizontal level to the ground.

In the preferred embodiment, this problem is overcome by the elliptical shape 200 of the pant leg 100. The elliptical cut pant leg 510 is shown in FIG. 5 illustrating the preferred embodiment. As the wearer stands up-right, the curvature of the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460 rests in an aesthetically pleasing manner slightly above the ground in the back and gently across the top of the shoe in the front. When the wearer sits and bend the knee, the fabric of the back panel 102 becomes slack and drops the adjusted hem line 440, 450 or 460, the adjusted hem line will rest level with the ground; while, the front of the adjusted hem line 440, 450 or 460 is raised to rest in an aesthetically pleasing position as shown as the adjusted hem resting position 511.

The present embodiment is not restricted in how much fabric may be removed in fabric removal areas 303 and 304, FIG. 3. The relationship between the fabric removal area 303 and 304 is proportional and such proportionality must be maintained to produce the elliptical shape required to result in a level resting position of the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460 in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 3, the shape of the curvature for the fabric removal areas 303 and 304 is determined by the amount of “drop” desired, or difference between the length at the front of the pant leg 100 compared to the length at the back of the pant leg 100. Two-thirds (⅔^(rds)) of the drop should occur on the front panel 101 by removing fabric in fabric removal area 303 by a unit amount of 305, with the remaining one-third (⅓^(rd)) of the drop on the back panel 102 by removing fabric in fabric removal area 304 by a unit amount 306. The preferred relationship between unit amount 305 and unit amount 306 is proportional as two to one (2:1). This ratio creates a curvature that best matches the foot and lay of the pants. This ratio may be adjusted to produce the particular style of flair 451 or 461 desired.

In FIG. 3, the apex of the resulting curve 307, created by removing fabric in the fabric removal area 303 of the end of panel 101 is shown. The apex of the resulting curve 308, created by removing fabric in the fabric removal area 304 of the end of the panel 102 is also shown.

When the apex of the resulting curve 307 and 308 are centered in alignment with the orientation of crease 106 along the pant leg 410, 420 and 430 shown in FIGS. 4 a, 4 b and 4C, the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460 will rest in an aesthetically pleasing height above the ground on both the inside and outside seam 103 of the pant leg 410, 420 and 430.

In the present embodiment, the apex the resulting curve 307 and 308 can be offset from center alignment with the orientation of crease 106 along the pant leg 410, 420 and 430 shown in FIGS. 4 a, 4 b and 4C, the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460 will rest in an aesthetically pleasing height above the ground which is different on both the inside and outside seam 103 of the pant leg 410, 420 and 430. When the offset is applied towards the outer seam 103, the outside edge of the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460 will rest lower than the inside edge of the adjusted hem line 440, 450 and 460.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.

What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter.

It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that many further combinations and permutations of such matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

While this disclosure has described certain embodiments and generally associated methods, alterations and permutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of example embodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure, as defined by the following claims. 

We claim:
 1. Pants having two pant legs, with each pant leg formed by joining two fabric panels consisting of a front and back panel, where the front panel is slightly more narrow and longer than the back panel, where the front and back panels are joined together using a two vertical seams, an interior seam and exterior seam, where the pant leg is terminated at the bottom of the pant leg with a horizontal seam which has a smooth elliptical shape.
 2. The pants in claim 1 where the front panel horizontal seam rests on the top of a shoe leg being worn with the pants resulting in a break along the front crease of the pant and which allows the back of the pant leg horizontal seam to hang beneath the heel of the wearer's heel yet not touching the ground.
 3. The pants in claim 1, which presents an aesthetically pleasing smooth elliptical shape around the shoe which the wearer desires to see at the lower presentation of the pant leg when worn with a shoe. 4: The pants in claim 3, which present variation in the aesthetic appearance of the lower presentation of the pant leg when worn with a shoe through alteration to the slope of the elliptical shape applied to the edge of fabric at the pant leg bottom.
 5. The pants in claim 1 for use in locations where sanitary conditions necessitate wearing pants over the shoe while also avoiding exposure of the pant leg bottom to contaminants on the floor.
 6. The pant in claim 1 for use by persons climbing items such as a ladder or while on rough terrain where full range motion of the leg is required and where the possibility of the lower pant leg catching on the heel of a shoe is avoided. 